The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1887-11-19
PANlCS IN THCATERS.
Chs ssnseiess Madness That Takes Hol'
of somo People.

Of somo People.
1t seems impossible, when you look
around at gallant men and amiable
women, sitting placidly at play
that in moment. on the utterance of
one word, they can be turned into
dumb. driven cattle. scnseless, suicidal
idiots. But IL is so. Any night the
auditorium Of fashionable theater
may echo 10 some unfortunate note OF
alarm. In an instant the gray haired
banker, whose dignity gave tone to
his whole section, is walking up the
backs Of women and over the heads Of
children.
At the Park Thcator one night (the
theater that happily was destroyed by
fire about three hours before the time
when 10 would have been packed by
New York's best people to witness
Miss Lpngtry's debut) somo dude.
entering up the unsafe and tortuou5
stairway, threw his cigarette through
the iron grating Of ,he steps. 5 ONE
accumulated rubbish began to
smolder, and volume Of smoke
poured into the auditorium.
About half the audience sitting there
knew that the stage had m enormous
square opening direct upon Twenty
second street--a door not ten feet from
the level Of the street. Every soul in
the house could have gone over the
low footlights. crossed the stage, and
been in Twenty. second street in three
minutes time. They had all entered
the thoater by the crooked, narrow
passage; they all knew its miserable
limits; they saw the smoke coming In
at that narrow passage, and yet when
some scared scamp near the door
jumped to his feet and screeched
"Firev" they all with one accord start
ed 10 the rear, regardless Of life or
limb. Luckily, that night a stalwart
policeman, with the lungs Of Stentor.
calmly said: There amt no fire; IT, S
beon put out" He grabbed the first
lot Of mad people and bodily put 'cm
down into seats; but for few min
utes there was the widest Kind
II scrimmago. \ well-known and
dignilied citizen had sat in high-bred
ease two seats ahead Of me during the
performance. AS the panic struck
him he rose, mounted over the back
Of his seat, n nd started TO walk on
tho shoulders Of some fashionably nj
tired ladies. II seemed an occasion
for remonstrancc and i had II slight
but severe remark to make, and made
il with an opera glass; the old gentle
man took the kindly hint and conclud-
ed To walk on his legs in the aisle,
but he had made fair start To tramp
to safety over his fellow creatures.
Another time in the Cosmopolitan
Hall at Forty Second street the place
was crowded for u first night Of min
strelsy. There was low gallery run
ming round the building, supported
on n series of iron posts. During the
evening ono Of these pasts slipped of
1.-THE block" and crashed through i'm
10 n billiard saloon in the basement;
tho gallery in that particular spot
sagged, crealIed. and some
beam split with alarming noise.
In moment all was excite
mont in tho crowded gallery, l wa
sitting n few feet in front of this spot.
and being fearful that people might
portant and self-suilicicnt gentleman.
and suggested that wc got into two
broad aisles beside him whore. il peo-
pie Jumped, they would not Jump on
us. i got no response and l might as
well have pushed at the side OF the
house, he was so immovable. With
'lovel-fronting oyclds" he confronted
nothing and looked at it steadily. He
clasped hard Derby hat against his
stomach and was as near pctrifaction
as Is consistent with life.
After the alarm subsidod and the
performance was resumed, il was dis
covered that my scared friend had
crushed his Int on his body as Hat IA n
plaster. and pressed the nails
OF one hand so venomously into the
other that the blood had started
tho cut skin. Cincinnati En-